The most eye-catching auction item at this year’s Garden Party fundraiser for the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard was a painting done in real time by a pony.

A crowd gathered around Tony the Pony as he grabbed a paintbrush in his mouth and painted swatches of purple and yellow paint on a black canvas. Owner Annie Parsons sat next to Tony, making sure the canvas didn’t get knocked over.

Ms. Parsons said Tony Smalls, a miniature black pony with green hair extensions in his tail, learned how to paint during the pandemic. His artwork was auctioned off for $400.

The Garden Party is the animal shelter’s biggest fundraiser of the year. On Monday, guests, along with numerous animals, mingled on the lawn at the home of Mike and Lisa MacKenty to bid on jewelry, gift certificates and hotel stays, with all proceeds going to the shelter.

Bidding was active at the fundraiser. — Maria Thibodeau

A live and silent auction included dog training sessions with Jeremy Jones, Tony the pony’s paintings and a round of golf at Felix Neck.

“I get so amazed when we see so many people here who are so supportive of us,” said board member Mary Woodcock.

Ms. Woodcock adopted two cats from the shelter, Wilbur and Orville, in 2021.

On a stage set up in front of the tent, Mark Alan Lovewell and Molly Conole performed traditional sea chanties for the crowd. Mr. Lovewell said he has been performing at the annual Garden Party every year since the fundraiser first started.

“It’s multiple generations. My father was a big supporter and now I am. We love the shelter, we have to take care of animals because no one else takes care of them,” Mr. Lovewell said.

Next to the stage, Ursa and Astra, two Great Danes who were taller than the miniature ponies, let out a few barks. The pair were hard to miss, sprawled out on a blue picnic blanket drinking from a massive bowl of water on the hot evening. Many guests stopped by to pet them.

Eric and Mary Loftfield adopted the mother-daughter pair about a year and a half ago from the shelter. Eric said he was looking for a new dog after his Great Dane, Schooner, died in January. He left the shelter with two, and took them home on the ferry to Falmouth.

Diana (Dinny) Dozier, one of the founders of the shelter and the current board president, noted how pleased she was with the adoption.

“What we needed to do was find a home for both because they were mother and daughter,” she said. "We didn’t want to separate them. And it happened.”

Founded in 2009, the “no-kill” shelter houses animals until they can find a forever home. The animal shelter works hard to support not only pets on the Island but also pet owners. The organization hold rabies vaccine clinics, spay and neuter clinics, and even nail clinics.

“We are here for the Island and here for the people who come to the Island in the summer, and whoever needs us. We’re there for them. I don’t know how to explain how important it is,” Ms. Dozier said.

Lisa Dawley, has been the manager of the shelter since it started, seconded the feeling. “Whatever the community needs, we’re trying to put our feelers out and see what they need, and then we solve that problem. It’s ever-changing and ever-growing.”

Visit animalshelterofmv.org.